ars viva 2020 / Matheus Rocha Pitta: The Curfew Sirens

The Kunstverein in Hamburg is delighted to present the exhibitions ars viva 2020 - Karimah Ashadu, Thibaut Henz, Cemile Sahin and Matheus Rocha Pitta - The Curfew Sirens. We cordially invite you to our opening on Febuary 14, 7pm.
 

ars viva 2020 - Karimah Ashadu, Thibaut Henz, Cemile Sahin
The Kunstverein in Hamburg is pleased to host the exhibition of the ars viva prize this year for the first time since 2003. The Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e. V. (Association of Arts and Culture of the German Economy at the Federation of German Industries e. V.) has been awarding the ars viva prize since 1953 to outstanding young artists living in Germany, whose works evince an individual formal language and an awareness of current cultural and social questions. The jury selected the prize winners out of 49 proposed artists under 35. Karimah Ashadu, Thibaut Henz, and Cemlie Sahin have all created new works and installations that will be shown alongside older works in order to provide more insight into each artist’s creative process.

The exhibition is curated by Bettina Steinbrügge.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a bilingual catalog published by Kerber Verlag. The exhibition was shown in a different form at the GfZK Leipzig in late 2019. The 2020 ars viva Prize is rounded out by the prize winners’ stay at an arts residency on Fogo Island (Canada).

The jury, chaired by Ulrich Sauerwein, consisted of members of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft’s Committee for Visual Arts along with cooperating partners Julia Schäfer (Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig); Bettina Steinbrügge (Kunstverein in Hamburg); Zita Cobb, Willem de Rooij and Nicolaus Schafhausen (Fogo Island Arts); and Dr Franziska Nentwig and Mathilda Legemah (Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft). Dr Stephanie Rosenthal (Gropius Bau) served as an adviser. The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. We especially thank Prof. Dr. Michael Otto for supporting the exhibition.

The exhibition is a cooperation with the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e. V.

Related events
Artist talk: February 15, 2–3pm
Thibaut Henz in conversation with Nicolaus Schafhausen

Artist talk: February 26, 7–8pm
Karimah Ashadu in conversation with Bettina Steinbrügge

Artist talk & reading: April 15, 7–8pm
Reading from the novel Taxi and artist talk with Cemile Sahin and Bettina Steinbrügge

Matheus Rocha Pitta - The Curfew Sirens 
The examination of gesture plays a central role in Matheus Rocha Pitta’s work. As articulations of the body and language, gestures have far-reaching ethical and political implications. Over many years, Rocha Pitta has amassed an extensive archive of news clippings organized by quotidian gestural expression and place of origin. He arranges the material in multi-layered compositions on poured concrete slabs of different sizes and shapes. With his “petrified” collages, Rocha Pitta constructs stories, memories, and scenarios that reflect and resist different forms of authoritarianism, misinformation, exploitation, and injustice.

For his exhibition in Hamburg, Rocha Pitta has developed an ensemble of new sculptures called Sirens based on gestures of held mouths, ears and eyes. The selected imagery opens up a variety of reference points, including Ulysses’ encounter with the eponymous mythical creatures, the three wise monkeys from a Japanese proverb, and an increasing surveillance mentality in many societies in combination with the urge for constant expression of opinion on social media and the Internet. With the exhibition, Rocha Pitta pursues the question of a possible interruption of the multi-layered chain of power, violence, and language as well as the right to freedom of expression, hate commentaries, and authoritarian control.

The exhibition is curated by Tobias Peper.

The exhibition is kindly supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Berit und Rainer Baumgarten Stiftungsfonds under the umbrella of the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, and the Honorary Consulate of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Hamburg.

Related events

Artist talk: February 15, 3–4pm
Matheus Rocha Pitta in conversation with Tobias Peper